Wenzhuo Liu
Irena Weber is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Tourism Studies, University of Primorska in Slovenia. Due to her passion for tea, she became interested in Chinese tea culture while teaching in Shanghai, China in 2018. In recent years, Irena has visited China almost annually and has conducted a series of studies on tea tourism. Tea culture originated in China and has influenced tea cultures worldwide, making Chinese tea culture highly worthy of study—a point Irena often emphasizes.
In the Azores (the Portuguese are the only ones in the West Europe that call tea a cha and not tea/te etc.)
The University of Primorska is a national comprehensive university in Slovenia, where Irena works as an Assistant Professor in Tourism Social Sciences and Humanities at the Faculty of Tourism Studies. In 2018, she taught economics and international relations courses at Shanghai University of International Business and Economics in China under the Erasmus+ EU Higher Education Exchange Program. Her habit of drinking tea led her to pay attention to Chinese tea culture and, subsequently, tea tourism—an area related to her research. Irena often tells her Chinese students that they should be proud of their tea culture. She visits China almost every year, invited to participate in events such as the Seminar on Tourism Higher Education under the Belt and Road Initiative hosted by Ningbo University, and the Eighth UNESCO UNITWIN International Conference in Zhuhai in 2024, themed “World Heritage as a Cornerstone of Tourism Resilience.”
Guan Yin Pavilion Old Tea House is an old tea house in Pengzhen, Sichuan Province of China, Irena was pictured with Li Qiang, who is in charge of the tea house and is very famous internationally due to many videos
UNESCO has recognized three European tea cultural heritages: East Frisian tea culture in Germany (2016), and the tea cultures of Turkey and Azerbaijan (2022). Irena is a member of the Working Group of International Tea Tourism (WGITT) and a founding member of the European Tea Culture Institute (ETCI), where she primarily focuses on Chinese tea-related topics. The institute was registered in Berlin, Germany in January 2024, providing an interdisciplinary environment for research and education on European tea culture, as well as training and seminars related to tea heritage, tea tourism, and tea traditions. It also organizes the annual European Tea Culture Conference. That same year, Irena co-authored Tea Cultures of Europe: Heritage and Hospitality, edited by Hartwig Bohne—also a founding member of ETCI. The book is regarded as the first comprehensive publication on European tea culture and aims to provide guidelines for tea-related training and education.
The Azores tea fileds with prof. Hartwig Bohne, the director of ETCI and prof. Lee Jolliffe, the editor of 2 books on tea tourism
Tea tourism is a relatively new concept, essentially representing a deep integration of agriculture and tourism, combining tea production functions with tourism service functions. It is a new industrial form centered around tea and tea culture, integrating tea production, ecological environments, cultural resources, and tourism activities. Irena recommends The Routledge Handbook of Tea Tourism, edited by Lee Jolliffe, as an early work focusing on tea tourism. Tea culture originated in China and has influenced tea cultures worldwide, and Irena emphasizes that Chinese tea culture is highly worth studying. In 2018, Irena published an article in Academica Turistica titled “Tea for Tourists: Cultural Capital, Representation, and Borrowing in the Tea Culture of Mainland China and Taiwan,” based on her observations at professional tea museums, tea houses, and tea markets in Shanghai, Hangzhou, Taipei, and Pinglin. Irena’s interest in Chinese tea culture has also influenced her daughter, who studied and lived in China during high school, leading her to learn Chinese and decide to stay in China. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, focusing on philosophy and history. Irena is pleased that her daughter can help translate some Chinese tea materials for her, and she will continue to focus on observing and researching Chinese tea tourism.
These are tea fileds behind the China National Tea Museum in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province of China, but you can only see a part of Irena’s hand – she was sending greetings to our WG ITT group
Slovenia is located in south-central Europe, at the northwestern edge of the Balkan Peninsula. Slovenia is a coffee-consuming country, but Irena notes that there is a tradition of drinking herbal teas, and British afternoon tea is also widely accepted. Considering the health benefits of tea, Europeans tend to drink tea; tea enthusiasts from countries with richer tea cultures in Europe have more opportunities to access good tea, whereas Slovenia is relatively isolated, making it difficult to buy high-quality tea. Irena has incorporated demonstrations of Chinese Gongfu tea into her tourism courses, much to the amazement of her students, which has influenced a small number of them to develop an interest in tea. When organizing faculty meetings, Irena always actively arranges tea breaks. Many colleagues make a point of visiting her office for tea, finding it relaxing and stress-relieving. Irena jokes that her office has become the university’s private tea room.
Irena and colleagues at Berlin Tea Festival
Slovenia is located in central southern Europe, at the northwest end of the Balkan Peninsula. Slovenia is a coffee consuming country, according to Irena, but based on the history of Christian monasteries, there is a tradition of drinking herbal tea, and English afternoon tea is also widely accepted. Considering the health benefits of tea, Europeans tend to prefer drinking tea, and tea drinkers from countries with stronger tea cultures in Europe have more opportunities to access good tea. Slovenia, on the other hand, is not the case. Slovenia is a small European country with a land area of 20300 square kilometers and a total population of 2.1247 million. Its tea market is relatively small. Although some tea houses and cafes offer tea drinks, tea culture has never been properly developed. Irena has incorporated demonstrations of Chinese Gongfu tea into her tourism courses, much to the amazement of her students, which has influenced a small number of them to develop an interest in tea. When organizing faculty meetings, Irena always actively arranges tea breaks. Many colleagues make a point of visiting her office for tea, finding it relaxing and stress-relieving. Irena jokes that her office has become the university’s private tea room.